Arsenal Confirm Fresh Injury Blow Ahead Of Chelsea: Latest On Monreal, AMN & More

Arsenal have confirmed a fresh injury blow ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea with Ainsley Maitland-Niles facing up to eight weeks on the sidelines.

The 20-year-old midfielder started at left-back during Arsenal’s opening Premier League defeat to Manchester City last weekend but he limped off in the first half following a clash with Kyle Walker.

Unai Emery hinted after the game that the injury could be serious and Arsenal have now confirmed that Maitland-Niles has been ruled out for 6-8 weeks with a small fracture to his left fibula.

It stretches Emery’s options at left-back as Sead Kolasinac is out until around October with a knee injury while fellow full-back Carl Jenkinson is facing up to eight weeks on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

Jenkinson had been expected to seal a move away from the Emirates this summer but any hope of a loan to the Championship appear over after this latest injury setback.

Arsenal’s problems at the back continue as Laurent Koscielny isn’t expected to begin training again until November after undergoing surgery on an Achilles injury that he suffered towards the end of last season.

However, there was some positive news for the north Londoners as Nacho Monreal is back in full training after recovering from a knee injury that’s hampered him since the World Cup so the Spaniard could return at left-back if he’s deemed fit enough to face Chelsea.

Danny Welbeck is also in full training as he looks to build on his fitness having arrived back late from the World Cup but a place on the bench this weekend is probably the best he can hope for.

An update on Arsenal.com read:

Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Ainsley has sustained a small fracture to his left fibula and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Carl Jenkinson
Carl has sustained a significant sprain to his right ankle and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Sead Kolasinac
Sead has a left knee injury. We are aiming for him to return to training in October.

Laurent Koscielny
Right Achilles tendon repair. We are aiming for Laurent to return to training in November.

Nacho Monreal and Danny Welbeck
Both players are in full training.

Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge looking to bounce back from their opening defeat to Manchester City but things won’t be much easier against a Chelsea side that impressed during their 3-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday.